Posted: 9/15/2025 9:55:00 AM EDT
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I recently started having general muscle soreness. My nutrition/fitness outline: Diet is clean, high protein, moderate fat, low carb. Supplement with whey protein, aminos, micros, creatine, LMNT electrolytes, and others. 50yo, 200lbs, 9-10% body fat with calipers Workout regimen: 1. Chest shoulders 2. Zone 2 cardio 3. Back 4. Zone 2 cardio 5. Legs 6. Zone 2 cardio 7. 5 mi kettlebell ruck Most of the soreness is in my glutes, hamstrings, and back. I’m not a fan of “off” days, but I’m taking three days off from strength training and replacing it with zone 2 cardio to see if it helps. Possible culprits: 1. Hydration, too much caffeine. 2. Not enough carbs Any suggestions? |
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Stretch after. Pilates or yoga immediately after your workout will help prevent soreness. Also, make sure you are getting your 5 mg of creatine a day. ETA: Check your footwear if you're having the pain in your lower/middle back, glutes, and hamstrings. All those muscles are on your posterior. |
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You might consider breaking up your large compound exercises up over the week instead of mega blasting chest on X day, legs on Y day....etc. Use chest as an example. Do two chest exercises max on one day. Do more chest exercises on later days in the week with at least one day in between. Total amount of chest sets remain the same for the week. You will end up with less soreness. You may even have slightly more gains because you will cumulatively be doing more work (reps per set) because you are working on a fresh chest more often. I say this because after say 6-8 total hard chest sets on a day...your chest should be pretty smoked if you are an experienced lifter. I switched to this method after 3 straight years of lifting 5 days a week. I had constant deep soreness and aches. After moving to the method I explained above, soreness is rarely an issue. |
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Good advice in the thread already. +1 to post-workout stretching. Even a half mile walk afterwards helps flush out lactic acid for me. I would add magnesium to your supplement list. It helps me at 47yrs old. I shoot for 12 sets per muscle group. Sometimes I can get them in a single workout, sometimes I have to break it up. I have a 4 day plan, the 5th day (Friday) is where I pick up the prior 4 days slack. I'm most sore during a cut. I have a tendency to not meet my caloric goals anyway (while hitting my protein macro). My body lets me know pretty quickly when I need to up my calories; DOMS for a couple days. You sound fairly squared away so this may not be an issue, but it may be worth looking into. |
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Good advice. Thank you. I stretch everyday day on strength days, but probably not enough. And I do take magnesium. Breaking up the exercises on different days sounds like a pretty good idea. I blast leg day pretty hard, and it might be a good idea spread it out over two or three days. Back too. I’m thinking about adding some potatoes back into my diet. Maybe rice. |
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Originally Posted By goloud: Good advice. Thank you. I stretch everyday day on strength days, but probably not enough. And I do take magnesium. Breaking up the exercises on different days sounds like a pretty good idea. I blast leg day pretty hard, and it might be a good idea spread it out over two or three days. Back too. I’m thinking about adding some potatoes back into my diet. Maybe rice. Yep. I also use fresh fruit, almond flour crackers w/hummus, cheese curds, or calorie-dense nuts/seeds (~170cals per 1/4 cup). Sometimes I'll treat myself to 85% dark chocolate, keeping intake under 2oz (~300cals). I like spuds, but man they make me bloat something terrible. A decade ago when I was a fatty, it didn't, but now it does. I use jasmine or basmati rice to change things up. Your splits look similar to mine. It's tough to get it all in while still pushing to failure. I just keep mental tabs where I dropped reps earlier in the week and then hit that area hard on Friday. |
"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives."-Abba Eban
"I like it both ways, but still mainly mouth it" -gonzo_beyondo
"I like it both ways, but still mainly mouth it" -gonzo_beyondo
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Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: Casein at night instead of whey. Or even casein morning and night, and whatever else you want during the day. No stretching before or after lifting, instead, do one or two more light, warm up sets thank you normally would. Try it and see. I tried this after reading some bro-science saying I was wearing my muscles out before using them. Coincided with my bicep detachment about 4 weeks later... Now I'm back to stretching before and after. |
"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives."-Abba Eban
"I like it both ways, but still mainly mouth it" -gonzo_beyondo
"I like it both ways, but still mainly mouth it" -gonzo_beyondo
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Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: Casein at night instead of whey. Or even casein morning and night, and whatever else you want during the day. No stretching before or after lifting, instead, do one or two more light, warm up sets thank you normally would. Try it and see. Why no stretching? OP, how many days between training? Frequency is often the answer to soreness. Go a week in between heavy squats, you're probably going to be sore. For me, even twice a week was borderline. It doesn't even need to be a full session, you could probably get away with as little as working up with singles or doubles. Incorporate it as a warm up for whatever else you got going. |
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Originally Posted By Tanren37: Why no stretching? Originally Posted By Tanren37: Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: Casein at night instead of whey. Or even casein morning and night, and whatever else you want during the day. No stretching before or after lifting, instead, do one or two more light, warm up sets thank you normally would. Try it and see. Why no stretching? There's been a lot of scientific research into DOMS, and stretching right before or after workouts is one of the things that increases DOMS. Also, static stretching has been shown over the last few decades to be a whole lot less effective at anything than most people think, with "dynamic stretching" (warmups) being much more effective. It's easy to just see "don't stretch", but the "replace it with more easy warmups" is also critical. Between using casein instead of whey and using more warmups instead of stretching, my DOMS has been cut by at least 90%. |
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Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: There's been a lot of scientific research into DOMS, and stretching right before or after workouts is one of the things that increases DOMS. Also, static stretching has been shown over the last few decades to be a whole lot less effective at anything than most people think, with "dynamic stretching" (warmups) being much more effective. It's easy to just see "don't stretch", but the "replace it with more easy warmups" is also critical. Between using casein instead of whey and using more warmups instead of stretching, my DOMS has been cut by at least 90%. It's like stretching is a bad word in America. People use all sorts of means to justify what they do, or what they don't. I'd make the counter point that the strongest athletes in the world warm up with both static and dynamic routines then finish with often pretty lengthy static stretching. As well as being strong, they're incredibly mobile. Or maybe it's just the steroids........ |
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Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: There's been a lot of scientific research into DOMS, and stretching right before or after workouts is one of the things that increases DOMS. Also, static stretching has been shown over the last few decades to be a whole lot less effective at anything than most people think, with "dynamic stretching" (warmups) being much more effective. It's easy to just see "don't stretch", but the "replace it with more easy warmups" is also critical. Between using casein instead of whey and using more warmups instead of stretching, my DOMS has been cut by at least 90%. I definitely don’t “stretch” enough. Of either kind. |
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Originally Posted By Tanren37: It's like stretching is a bad word in America. People use all sorts of means to justify what they do, or what they don't. I'd make the counter point that the strongest athletes in the world warm up with both static and dynamic routines then finish with often pretty lengthy static stretching. As well as being strong, they're incredibly mobile. Or maybe it's just the steroids........ Originally Posted By Tanren37: Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: There's been a lot of scientific research into DOMS, and stretching right before or after workouts is one of the things that increases DOMS. Also, static stretching has been shown over the last few decades to be a whole lot less effective at anything than most people think, with "dynamic stretching" (warmups) being much more effective. It's easy to just see "don't stretch", but the "replace it with more easy warmups" is also critical. Between using casein instead of whey and using more warmups instead of stretching, my DOMS has been cut by at least 90%. It's like stretching is a bad word in America. People use all sorts of means to justify what they do, or what they don't. I'd make the counter point that the strongest athletes in the world warm up with both static and dynamic routines then finish with often pretty lengthy static stretching. As well as being strong, they're incredibly mobile. Or maybe it's just the steroids........ I definitely stretch, just not right before or after lifting. |
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Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: I definitely stretch, just not right before or after lifting. Originally Posted By GlutealCleft: I definitely stretch, just not right before or after lifting. This dude is about to snatch 200kg (440lbs) after this one minute highlight of his warmup. We really talking about the same thing?  Dmitry Klokov Warm Up Almaty 2014 Wold Championships Training Hall Originally Posted By goloud: I definitely don’t “stretch” enough. Of either kind. Give it a try post training for a couple weeks, if it's a waste of time, then it's a waste of time. If you feel a difference in training or your overall feel the next day, then explore it. Want to double down on recovery pain? Throw in some foam rolling on those quads when you're gimped up two days after a big workout. |
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Originally Posted By ArGyLe64: Stretch after. Pilates or yoga immediately after your workout will help prevent soreness. Also, make sure you are getting your 5 mg of creatine a day. ETA: Check your footwear if you're having the pain in your lower/middle back, glutes, and hamstrings. All those muscles are on your posterior. Lots of helpful advice in this thread. Thanks. Decided to look at the soles of my shoes this morning. Both are worn out at the balls of my feet. Odd wear pattern for me, but may explain some of my problems. Probably related to my rucking. |
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If you are doing any kind of deadlift/rack-pull on back-day. You are liking getting glute/ham activation. Your kettlebell ruck day also likely taxes your glutes, hams and lower back. Your leg day (especially if any kind of deadlift, squat, hack squat) likely hits your lower back. Basically the same exact muscle groups are getting hammered 3 days per week. I'd either suggest legs, push, pull, or pull, push, legs. You can also adjust your volume on the lifts that have carry-over to all those areas. |
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Getting back on the horse. I’m going to focus on lighter weights, higher reps and better form for a few weeks. Adding in more stretching. I forgot that I had added in sled work on leg days. Bottom line is I was overdoing it. I guess every workout doesn’t have to be brutal. Ordered some new shoes. Started some BPC/TB. Thanks for the advice. |
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The new shoes really have seemed to help. I didn’t realize that I had put 900 miles on my last pair, ~300 of which with a 40lb kettlebell. Stretching also seems to relieve the pain. I’m remembering back to when I was in my early twenties. Everything healed in days, not weeks or months. |
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Welcome to the over 50 at 10 percent body fat club. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. I’m almost 52 and about 10-12 percent body fat myself. I don’t use very many supplements. My wife gives me deep tissue massage and uses one of those vibrating gun things on me a couple times a week. It works. Current photo. 
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Low carb and high intensity just don't work. Not for anyone, I don't care how many followers or Youtube views proponents have. Also, if you're really maintaining around 9% bf, that *could* also be not super healthy, depending on where you're at naturally (another Youtube/social media myth). Basically it sounds like your body isn't getting what it really needs, because you are giving it what you think it needs. Eat more carbs, and try more salt (s) as well. |
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Happened to me when I pushed zone-2 on “rest” days. My physio told me soreness in glutes/hams/back is often just chronic under-recovery, not injury. U prob need more carbs than u think at 9-10% BF. I also swapped shorts to something compressive like these https://store.betterme.world/products/high-impact-mesh-leggings-rust-brown and it weirdly helped with stability and DOMS. Try one true off-day per week. |
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Solid stats for 50, respect! Looking at your split, you're hitting your posterior chain hard (Back, Legs, plus the Ruck). Since you're already lean (10% BF) and low carb, your muscles are likely just glycogen depleted, which kills recovery. I’d suggest adding some complex carbs specifically around your heavy lifting days. It might help flush out that soreness better than just hydration. |